The Trade-Off

Been a long time since I checked in - which is OK as nothing has really been happening. But there have been recent developments worth noting. Without going into all the details let me just tell you that we are selling our 20 acre parcel to my brother and using that money to buy my parents 10 acre place. It's a trade-off - but well worth it. We are losing ten acres but gaining a house, outbuildings, yard, garden etc. I'll go into more details once everything is finalized but this will put us well ahead of where we thought we would be. I'm really excited to start some projects (orchard, larger garden site). Stay tuned.

Saturday in the park

So I hate blog posts that start out with excuses about why it's been so long since the author has posted! Suffice it to say that alot of "life" has been happening over the past couple years! The homesteading dream is still alive - but unfortunately it is still mostly a dream at this point! But I wanted to share a few pics from a little hike that I went on with two of my sons and one of my grown daughters. This is a pretty little two mile hike that is part of the Riverside State Park system in Spokane County. 

The weather was perfect - sunny and low 40s.This is a little trail, about 5 minutes from my house, called "Indian Painted Rock". It follows a stretch of the Little Spokane River and is home to deer, beaver, ducks, and moose. We saw lots of ducks...but I'm afraid we were a bit too noisy to see much else!

Building a Cabin for Free - Part 4

Well obviously it has been forever since I posted. Let's just say "life happened" over the past year or so - including finding a new job in Seattle - while still living in Spokane (talk about a commute!), quitting that job after nine months and starting a new job here in Spokane. Needless to say the future homestead has been on the back burner for awhile. And that also means I haven't done anything with the cabin - well that's not quite true...

My kids and I were wanting to do something "cabin-ish" so we decided to take the reclaimed materials we did have and build a fort for the boys in the back yard. It's not a real cabin but it was good practice.

It's a 6x8 floor plan and you'll see in the pictures it's still a work in progress. The good news is I haven't spent any money except for nails and screws. Everything else was scrounged by me. I basically got a roof on it right before winter hit. I'm pleased to announce the roof works fine - no leaks!

You'll notice I piled a bunch of plywood and other materials in it for safe keeping until we finish it in the spring. You'll also notice a few side light windows (one has been installed and one is laying in the fort) that I salvaged from some door remodels I did with my brother.

Of course I've promised the boys once it's done in the spring we'll sleep out a few times. I'll also need to start acquiring more materials for the actual cabin. I'm thinking of maybe trying a log cabin as we have a lot of timber.

Building a Cabin for Free - Part 3

Wow! Has it really been this long since I posted? Well we've had an eventful few months - one of the biggest events has been me getting laid off in early May. Needless to say my focus has been on things other than building out little wilderness cabin. But today I finally took another little step toward making the cabin a reality.

I'm back to checking the "free" listings on Craigslist regularly and I found a lady looking to get rid of some scrap lumber. So me and two of my boys made the 20 mile trek to the country to pick up a collection of 2x4s, 2x6s, and 2x8s. Most of the wood is in pretty good shape. Any thing we can't use we'll just burn this fall/winter. We'll try to find more goodies this week.

So far we have a door and some windows and this load of lumber. But we still need alot more. Stay tuned!

How I spent my lunch break

I work in Liberty Lake, WA which is about two miles from the border of Idaho's panhandle. Once a week or so I like to take a little drive during my lunch break. Here's a few pics I took today:
Here's a small herd of bison...

Up the road about two miles from the bison a guy has a few elk....

Last but not least, a few horses.

I love the fact that about five minutes from work I can be driving a beautiful, winding road through the country.

We're planning to make it over to Montana this weekend so I can post some actual pics of our homestead site. See you then!

A walk in the country...

I mentioned in my last blog that I was planning to head over to Coeur d 'Alene to pick up some free wood. Well, we had a slight change of plans and, hopefully, the free wood will still be available next Saturday.

But, this change of plans meant I had some time to go hiking with two of my sons, Noah (5) and Adam (3). We live in Spokane, WA and are within minutes of several nice hiking trails. So we hike quite a bit.

The weather was a bit chilly and breezy but a good time was had by all. There is nothing like a walk in the woods to help clear your head. In fact everytime I'm in the woods it reaffirms my desire to live full-time in the country.

Building a Cabin for Free - Part 2

My weekend plans include a trip to Coeur d 'Alene to pick up another batch of free construction materials. A gentleman on Craigslist has a three section deck he wants removed from his yard. He says the wood is in pretty good shape so I will be there bright and early Saturday morning, with a crow bar, to dismantle and haul out a deck. This will provide a number of 2x4s, 2x6s and possibly some 2x8s. I'm hoping there might even be some concrete deck pedestals as well. I'll post some pics of the adventure.